Political Junkie

5:03 am

Tue February 12, 2013

It's ScuttleButton Time!

Knowing you the way I do, I figured it would make no sense putting up ScuttleButton later in the day today. Not while you're getting ready for President Obama's State of the Union address to Congress.

So I decided to have it ready early this morning, giving you more time to solve this week's puzzle. And, I daresay, it's a bit harder than usual.

ScuttleButton, of course, is that once-a-week waste of time exercise in which each Monday or Tuesday I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

(Why do people keep forgetting to include their name and city/state?)

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

By the way, I always announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN. But with it now less than a week until the next show, your window for getting your answer in is smaller.

Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt Serves All of Us — A longtime Republican House member from Arkansas, he defeated a young Bill Clinton in the 1974 campaign.

So, when you combine John + Jacob + Gene + Gill + Hammerschmidt, you may just very well end up with ...

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. The children's song I deliberately stuck in your brain for the past week. Yes, his name is my name too. And yes, whenever we go out, the people always shout. So my advice is just don't go out.

Anyway, the winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Carol Walker Martini of Chickamauga, Ga. Carol gets not only the coveted Political Junkie t-shirt — but the Official No Prize Button as well!

And don't forget to check out this week's Political Junkie column, which focuses on the latest round of soul-searching for Republicans in the wake of their second consecutive presidential defeat. And American Crossroads, Karl Rove's group, is adding some controversy by forming a campaign designed to choose sides in upcoming GOP Senate primaries. Click here to read the column.